Comments:
Started at Pease Park near my condo and hiked South to Lady Bird Lake with my Mom. She recently broke her foot, and cannot handle difficult terrain--only problem was one water crossing where we had to step from boulder to boulder, but she was fine in the end. The water in Shoal Creek was kind of stagnant and gross. Frankly I prefer the north end of the trail, but there were neat sections and it got less crowded as we went South (starting at Pease it runs close to Lamar and is quite noisy). Sharing the trail with cyclists was occasionally harrowing (narrow, blind corners) but would have no problem if hiking solo--walking and talking side by side made us a hindrance! Trail closed near the lake, diverted to Butler Trail. Pleasant overall, will hike again.
I have no idea if it was really 2.5 miles; I'm totally guessing.